Nasa's Mars helicopter has a broken blade, ending its mission
Technology
Ingenuity's original mission was meant to last 30 days. It lasted three years
(Web Desk) - Nasa's Ingenuity Mars helicopter, the first helicopter to ever fly on another planet, will fly no more.
After three years and 72 flights, Ingenuity has been permanently grounded due to damage sustained to one of its rotors.
Nasa said in a statement that while they are still able to communicate with the copter and it remains upright, images from its last flight on Jan. 18 indicated it can't fly anymore.
Ingenuity landed on the Red Planet attached to the Perseverance rover on April 3, 2021 and took its first flight two weeks later — the first powered, controlled extraterrestrial flight by an aircraft on another planet in space travel history.
Its original mission was supposed to last for just 30 days. But in the ensuing years, Ingenuity flew and flew, spending more than two hours in the Martian air in total and covering 10.5 miles of the planet’s terrain — 14 times farther than it was designed to.
Ingenuity’s primary mission was to scout ahead for areas of interest that could be explored in depth by the Perseverance while also paving the way for future aerial missions to Mars.
"The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end," said Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson in a press release.
"That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped Nasa do what we do best — make the impossible, possible.
Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond."
